There was only a brief, brilliant flare of light, then nothing. The shattered

remains of the two TIE fighters drifted away into the darkness and the tremendous

asteroid—undeflected in its course—continued on its way.

Han felt an inner glow as bright as the spectacle that had just lighted up the view.

He smiled to himself in quiet triumph.

Then he noticed an image on the main scope of his control console and nudged

his hairy copilot. "There." Han pointed to the image. "Chewie, get a reading on

that. Looks pretty good."

"What is it?" Leia asked.

The Falcon's pilot ignored her question. "That should do nicely," he said.

As they flew near the asteroid's surface, Han looked down at the craggy terrain,

his eye caught by a shadowy area that looked like a crater of mammoth proportions.

He lowered the Falcon to surface level and flew it directly into the crater, its bowllike

walls suddenly rising up around his ship.

And still two TIE fighters chased after him, firing their laser cannons and

attempting to mimic his every maneuver.

Han Solo knew he had to be trickier and more daring if he was to lose the deadly

pursuit ships. Spotting a narrow chasm through his windscreen, he banked the

Millennium Falcon to one side. The ship soared sideways through the high-walled

rocky trench.

Unexpectedly the two TIE fighters followed. One of them even sparked as it

grazed the walls with its metal hull.

Twisting, banking, and turning his ship, Han pressed through the narrow gorge.

From behind the black sky flared as the two TIE fighters crashed against one another,

then exploded against the rocky ground.

Han reduced his speed. He still wasn't safe from the Imperial hunters.

Searching about the canyon, he spotted something dark, a gaping cave mouth at the

very bottom of the crater, large enough to hold the Millennium Falcon—perhaps. If

not, he and his crew would know soon enough.

Slowing his hip, Han coursed into the cave entrance and through a large tunnel,

which he hoped would make the ideal hiding place. He took a deep breath as his

ship was promptly devoured by the cave's shadows.

A tiny X-wing was approaching the atmosphere of the Dagobah planet.

As he neared the planet, Luke Skywalker was able to glimpse a portion of its

curved surface through a heavy cover of thick clouds. The planet was uncharted and

virtually unknown. Somehow Luke had made his way there, though he wasn't

certain whether it was his hand along that had guided his ship into this unexplored

sector of space.

Artoo-Detoo, riding in the back of Luke's X-wing, scanned the passing stars,

then addressed his remarks to Luke via the computer scope.

Luke read the viewscreen interpreter. "Yes, that's Dagobah, Artoo," he

answered the little robot, then glanced out the cockpit window as the fighter ship

began to descend toward the planet's surface. "Looks a little grim, doesn't it?"

Artoo beeped, attempting for one last time to get his master back on a more

sensible course.

"No," Luke replied, "I don't want to change my mind about this." He checked

the ship's monitors and began to feel a bit nervous. "I'm not picking up any cities or

technology. Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down

there."

Artoo was worried, too, and that was translated as an apprehensive inquiry.

"Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids. Will you take it easy?" Luke was

beginning to get annoyed. "We'll just have to see what happens."

He heard a pathetic electronic whimper from the rear of the cockpit.

"Don't worry!"

the X-wing sailed through the twilight halo separating pitch black space from the

planet's surface. Luke took a deep breath, then plunged his craft into the white

blanket of mists.

He couldn't see a thing. His vision was entirely obstructed by the dense

whiteness pressing against the canopy windows of his ship. His only choice was to

control his X-wing solely by instruments. But the scopes weren't registering

anything, even as Luke flew ever nearer to the planet. Desperately, he worked his

controls, no longer able to discern even so much as his altitude.

When an alarm began to buzz, Artoo joined its clarion call with his own frantic

series of whistles and beeps.

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